Behind the Masks
by fyd818
Summary: Sometimes love wears a mask, and sometimes it's just right there, waiting for the right time to be noticed.  Auggie/Annie two-shot
1. Annie

Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_, nor any places, things, characters, or ideas therein. Those belong to the USA Network and the producers, writers, etc., of the show. I am not making any monetary gain from this story in any way, shape, or form.

Summary: Sometimes love wears a mask, and sometimes it's just right there, waiting for the right time to be noticed. Auggie/Annie two-shot

Rating: K+

Warnings: A teeny bit of fluff

Pairing: Auggie/Annie

Spoilers: _Pilot_

**Author's Note:** This fic was inspired by a prompt posted by _iheartpants956_ over on the Auggie/Annie comm on LiveJournal. The prompt was for the moment Annie realized she loved Auggie, and vice versa. I hope this satisfies the criteria, and that everyone enjoys it! Thanks for reading!

**-Behind the Masks-**

_~fyd818~_

*~Part I: Annie~*

I had always thought love wore a mask. After all, the only real experience I'd had with love had left me burned, left me wondering if it had really been love at all. I had _thought_ it was, on Ben's part, but had soon discovered it wasn't. That left me wondering if it had really been love on my part, either.

The whole thing had been accidental, really. Thursday had rolled around again, and Danielle had informed me that it was up to me to bring someone to supper that night, or she would set me up _again_ the next week. I had thought about it for all of two seconds and decided that my sister's idea of wrath wasn't worth showing up alone tonight.

My best friend Auggie Anderson had always been there for me, and the extremely few times he hadn't, he had come through in the end. So when I went to him, ready to get down on my hands and knees and _beg_ him to come have dinner with me, I was shocked when he shrugged, grinned, and said he'd been wanting to meet the family I was always talking about, anyway.

So as soon as we both clocked out we headed for my junky VW, me in the driver's seat and him in the passenger's seat, for obvious reasons. Auggie chatted naturally the entire way to Danielle's, for which I was thankful. All I had to do was say yes, or no, or make noises that sounded interested. I was such a wreck that I couldn't have made an intelligible conversation if my life had depended on it. _What_ had I been _thinking_? This was totally going to end Auggie's and my friendship. _Forever_. He would take one (metaphorical) look at my family and run _screaming_ for his life. I was sure of it.

Linking my arm with Auggie's, I led him toward the front door of Danielle's beautiful house. The sound of my heels matched the _click_ of his cane against the cobblestone walk that led up to the porch, sounding a little too much like a death knell for my satisfaction.

And then we were in the house.

Danielle actually had the guts to look surprised when she saw that I'd brought someone with me. She looked briefly surprised at Auggie's cane and his just-off focused gaze, but quickly recovered. I had never been more thankful for my sister's social butterfly personality. "I'm Danielle, Annie's sister," she said warmly. "Welcome to our home!"

Auggie grinned, holding out his free hand, which Danielle promptly shook. "Auggie Anderson," he said.

I quickly interjected. "He works with me at the Smithsonian. He's in the Research department - he's the one who tells me what I have to go acquire." I quickly decided to stop talking lest I say too much. I had always possessed a nasty habit of rambling to my sister when I got nervous. I'd hoped to outgrow it, but unfortunately never had.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Auggie!" The warmth in Danielle's voice was surprisingly genuine. The effect was immediately ruined when she continued, "For that matter, it's nice to _finally_ meet _someone_ my sister works with."

If _that_ didn't smack of bitterness… "Can I do something to help with dinner, Danni?"

"Sure. Come on." After a quick introduction to Danielle's husband and daughters, she dragged me to the kitchen. "Annie, why did you never mention him before? He's _adorable_!" she said the moment we were alone.

I could already feel my cheeks growing red. "I - well, he's - and I-"

"Annie!" Danielle threw her arms around me, squeezing me so tightly I found it hard to breathe. "Little sister, I cannot _believe_ you have finally found yourself a man! And a good, sweet, genuine one at that." She winked, then danced over to the stove.

Feeling more than a dozen steps behind in the conversation, I threw up my hands. "You've known Auggie for all of five minutes, if that! How can you know all that about him? For all you know he's a jerk and he has an ulterior motive for being here."

Danielle paused to look at me over her shoulder, incredulous. "Are you serious? For one thing, you wouldn't socialize with someone like that."

Well, that was questionable (Ben immediately came to mind), but I was quiet and let her continue uncontested.

"Besides, I saw the look on his face while you were talking. He likes you."

"I-" I started to say he was just a friend, but perhaps that wouldn't be such a good idea if I planned to remain nightmare-date-free for the foreseeable future. But what else could I say?

"And by _like, _I mean _like_." Danielle turned from where she'd strained the spaghetti in the sink and then put it in a big stoneware bowl. "Look, Annie. You know that I've always wanted nothing but the best for you. And if you believe nothing else, little sister, please believe me when I say that there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Auggie is _the best_ for you. It's like you're _made_ for each other."

I still didn't see how she could have gotten that from a handshake and a two minute conversation, but I would give her the benefit of the doubt, at least for the moment.

Throughout the meal (and my sister's special version of the Spanish Inquisition for Auggie), I observed my friend closely. He was relaxed, natural, even _happy_. Nothing at all like I would have expected. And, even more than that, every time I shifted in my seat next to his, he would mirror the movement almost unconsciously, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

But it wasn't until after dinner, when we were all sitting around the fireplace in the family room, when it really hit me. Auggie sat on the couch, one of my nieces on either side of him, letting the girls examine his cane as he easily chatted with them, regaling them with fantastical stories I had no idea he could weave. It seemed he had missed his calling and should have been a writer.

Perhaps it was the way the fire glittered in his warm eyes, making his hair shine; maybe it was the wine from dinner, which had painted everything around me with a subtle glow; or possibly it was me_ finally_ realizing that sometimes love _didn't_ wear a mask, it was just right there out in the open, where it had always been, just waiting to be noticed.

For the first time in two years I didn't picture Ben sitting between the girls, smiling and laughing. For the first time it was entirely natural to see Auggie sitting there for every Thursday, every _day_, with perhaps a couple more children to join my nieces.

It was almost as if Auggie _knew_, as he somehow always did. He lifted his sightless eyes from his unfocused gaze on my nieces and focused, as much and as miraculously as he could, on my face. Then a small, warm, genuine smile curled his lips, and I knew.

I was in love with August Anderson, and he had been waiting ever so patiently for me to realize this, which made me love him all the more.

_I am in love with Auggie Anderson._ Closing my eyes, I relished the words and looked forward to where our future would lead us.

_~To Be Concluded~_

…_**So ends part one. I was originally going to write Auggie's part first, but when my fingers touched the keys Annie's part came out. I think the order works better this way than how I had originally planned it. Auggie's part will be up soon, and thank you so much for checking out my story, I hope you enjoyed it!**_


	2. Auggie

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

**Author's Note:** Firstly, thank you all _so much_ for the response to the first half of this fic! I was so wowed by all the reviews, alerts, and faves. Secondly, this part takes place about eight months _before_ Annie's part. Thirdly, thanks again for checking out my story, and I hope you enjoy the second half!

**-Behind the Masks-**

*~Part II: Auggie~*

I knew the moment I heard kitten heels and smelled Jo Malone grapefruit perfume that I was in _big_ trouble. I just had not, at the time, realized how monumental that trouble would be.

My coworkers had made it more than clear to me how good-looking Annie Walker was, but I couldn't help but want to discover it for myself. I wanted to be able to see her features, her eyes, her hair. I had longed for even a brief glimpse of her since she had clicked into my life on those trademark heels of hers. Ever since then we had started a dangerous dance with each other - or, at least, I had been dancing. I wasn't quite sure about her. We each professed to being best friends with the other, but to be honest, there was a part of me that wanted more.

It hadn't always been that way, though. At the beginning I had been willing enough to be her friend and guide in the CIA, since I knew a little more about the ins and outs than she. I remembered a little too clearly what it was like being the newbie, and I wanted to help her circumvent that awkward adjustment period. Perhaps I had thrown a bit of a flirtatious comment or look into our banter every now and then, because I didn't have to see her to know she was a beautiful woman. I saw what some others couldn't see past her good looks - the beautiful personality inside.

Then, one day, it all inexplicably and irrevocably changed.

My first clue that everything was not going as planned was the sound of an explosion, accompanied by the shattering of glass and whizzing of flying shrapnel. The second was the gunshots that closely followed, punctuated by screams.

I was out of my seat in an instant, one hand braced against my desk as the other pressed against my earpiece. I pushed it so hard into my ear it was painful, desperate to hear some clue that Annie was all right. I strained to hear the slightest whisper, a breath, _anything_.

Since I'd lost my sight my other four senses had trained themselves to make up for the loss, but even my extra-sensitive hearing was doing me no good. I heard nothing but the screams and the gunfire.

"Annie!" My voice was just lower than a scream, vibrating with tension. I heard footsteps behind me, felt Joan Campbell's hand on my shoulder. I shook her off, my eyes closing out of instinct, as if that could help me better concentrate on the sounds coming through my headset, and the one I was praying to hear instead.

Everything inside me was burning: with bitterness, that I wasn't allowed to go in the field anymore; with anger, at whoever it was who had messed up the mission so badly; with hopelessness, that there was nothing I could do to help but wait. I had never been torn in as many emotional directions as I had at that moment.

Then the gunfire stopped at last, and the calls for medical teams began. None of the voices were Annie's.

And then the panic set in.

Once more I became aware of Joan behind me as she reached for my headset and pulled it away. I had to fight back the urge to reach out and snatch it back from her. "Go," she said quietly, her voice heavy with concern.

I did not need to ask what she meant, or wait for her to repeat the command. Snatching up my laser cane, I took off for the medical wing as fast as I could. I would definitely beat the medical teams there, but the question was by how long.

The shouts of the medical teams were just becoming audible as I entered the med wing. We had our own staff of doctors and nurses since it typically wasn't the greatest idea to send our agents to regular hospitals for security purposes, and I had never been so grateful until right then that we had hired the best. With one hand on my cane and the other the wall, I tried to keep to the side of the hall so I wouldn't be in the way of the med teams.

Fortunately for my sanity, I did not have long to wait until the medical teams came bursting in. I heard the sounds of portable heart monitors, the rhythmic sound of oxygen being applied to some one, the squeak of gurney wheels, and doctors shouting things and receiving positive or negative responses from the attending nurses.

My open hand flexed into a fist against the wall. I was surprised the tile had not cracked.

An intrusively loud monotone broke through the other myriad sounds. "She's flat-lining!"

_She._ That was the first word my brain locked on to. _Flat-lining_. That, and the meaning of that, was the next, before my mind hovered somewhere between the two. I felt myself start to shake.

The _ker-thud_ of them trying to restart their heart sounded just before, right as, and two more just after they passed me. I turned my head to follow their process, ears straining to hear even the slightest change in rhythm of that droning tone.

"Call it. Time of death seventeen-twenty-three hours."

_Annie_. My knees could no longer support my trembling body, so I set my back against the wall and slowly sank down until I was sitting. Propping my elbows on my knees, I threaded my fingers through my hair, hearing my laser cane clatter to the floor. I didn't care.

_Annie._ I breathed an epithet that was half a prayer. _Annie…_

I heard the rustle of a skirt as someone knelt next to me. Turning my head, I splayed one hand over my face. "I'm sorry, Joan, I just want to be alone right now."

A hand took mine, then sender fingers placed something in my palm before curling my fingers around it. "You dropped your cane. Auggie, what - what's wrong? Are you okay?"

I snatched at the hands before their owner could withdraw them. With shaking hands I lifted them to my face, holding them there for a moment before I reached out to place mine on the woman's face. "_Annie_?"

She sounded confused when she spoke. "Auggie, what-?"

Not giving her a chance to finish, I moved my hands from her face to her shoulders and drew her to me in a crushing hug. "You're alive!" I garbled into her neck. Just then I realized that she smelled of sweat, soot, and blood, and those scents had overwhelmed her usual grapefruit perfume. I wondered why I hadn't heard her shoes.

"I lost my headset in the attack," Annie said. Finally her body, which had tensed when I grabbed her, relaxed, and her arms wound around me in a return of my gesture. "I didn't realize it until it was all over, and then I was just so intent on getting back here…"

Something at the back of my mind was prompting me that I was hanging on to Annie way longer than was proper, but I couldn't make my muscles relax so I could let go of her. "A second ago, I heard the med team - and they said _she's flat-lining_, and they announced the time of death. And you hadn't answered me, and all I could think-" I stopped talking before I could make an even bigger fool of myself than I already had.

"You thought I was dead," Annie finished. Her head came to rest on my shoulder, and I realized that she seemed unlikely to let go of me any time soon, either. "I'm sorry, Auggie. I never even _thought_…"

Right then, I was too happy to find out she was alive to be upset that I had (even if it was inadvertently) been tricked. She wasn't dead. I knew, deep inside me, that her being alive meant another female agent - a coworker of mine - was dead, but (I was later ashamed to say) right then that fact hardly mattered. _Annie was alive!_

It was at that moment, sitting there on the cold floor in the medical wing with our arms wrapped around each other and my face buried in her neck, I realized something very important.

I was in love with Annie Walker. I knew she wasn't in love with me - I was still her best friend. I was safe, there was no chance her best friend would hurt her in love as she had been hurt before.

However, I was willing to wait until she was ready. She was worth it.

_~The End~_

_**And so ends part two. Thank you all so much for checking out my story, and I really hope you enjoyed it!**_


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